OK, I admit it. I’m a functional atheist.
While I say that God is with me all the time – guiding, protecting, and working alongside me, too often I find that I live my life as if everything depends on me. I make decisions and commitments as if I’m the sole arbiter. I don’t take time to consider that God really does have a plan. And in doing so I act like the God I say is here, really isn’t.
Actually, I don’t think I’m alone here. I think many of us suffer from the same misguided thinking. I think the Church, as a whole, has a hard time owning the promise Jesus gives us in Sunday’s Gospel: ‘The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.’
So what IF God really is here? And God knows everything I’m facing? That God has gone ahead of me to provide and protect? And that the decisions I’m making really aren’t as determinate upon my own action as I think they are?
So much of the Christian journey is about letting go, letting be, and letting God. It’s as if God is saying, ‘Relax. I’ve got it covered. Be at peace. There’s nothing that can happen to you that I don’t know about. It’s all going to be OK.’ Lord, help me trade my atheism for your provision and realize that you do have the whole world in your hands.
